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Cedar boys stay unbeaten

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HARTINGTON - The Cedar Catholic boys basketball team earned a second straight win of the season in style with a 57-41 victory. 

Cedar would outscore O’Neill in all four quarters en route to the victory.

The Trojans were led by sophomore shooter Myles Thoene’s 21 points, as the Eagles continually made senior leader Matthew Becker’s night difficult on offense.

Thoene shot 8-17 on the night with five three-pointers, including two to open the game. While he shot nearly 50% from the floor, the sophomore says he thinks he could have done better.

“My teammates were setting me up,” said Thoene. “A lot of attention goes to Matthew so I stand out [beyond the three] and get a lot of good looks. I didn’t shoot great but I made what I had to and it was enough.”

Thoene finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and two steals in the victory. He did not receive an assist in the game, but had some key passes including to his brother Tate Thoene for his fourth three of the night to give the freshman his first double-digit game.

Head coach Matt Steffen says the two Thoene brothers can be hard for defenses to guard, due to their similar skill set.

“They’re brothers and are about a year apart so they have played a lot of basketball together,” said Steffen. “So of course their games are similar. Their shots are a little different but you can see they both shoot the ball pretty well.”

Myles Thoene also threw a bounce pass to Becker in the fourth quarter as the senior drove the lane. He was able to put up a simple layup for his 1,000th point as a Trojan. He said he knew he hit the milestone on that shot.

Becker also nearly brought the gym to their feet in the first half. The senior received a pass on a breakaway and jumped for a two-handed dunk attempt, but after bringing the ball behind his head, he slammed it into the front of the rim and it ricocheted away.

“I cocked it back a little bit too far and kind of lost it so I guess next time maybe,” said Becker who had a two-handed slam dunk in the season opener as well.

Cedar played well in all four quarters and even showed two prime examples of playing until the very end. With just over two seconds before halftime, Josh PInkelman inbounded the ball from in front of the student section. He threw a line drive pass to Charlie Schroeder who was near the top of the key on the other half of the court. Schroeder caught the ball, quickly drew a double team and dumped a pass to Cole Becker for a layup to beat the buzzer. 

It sent Cedar into halftime with a 28-22 lead.

Cedar had another moment at the buzzer, this time in the fourth quarter. As the clock was winding down at the end of the game, the Trojans had a win in hand but that was not enough for Brady Steffen who chased down an Eagle on a fast break and blocked a layup off the backboard as the buzzer rang through the gym.

“You play until the end, that is what Brady [Steffen] was doing. As far as that last second shot we practice that at least every night before a game to keep it fresh.”

“That was a dart,” said Matthew Becker about the shot before halftime with a smile. “We have been working on that in practice and he just threw a nice pass there.”

Cedar advanced to 2-0 with the victory over O’Neill and earned a three-day break before traveling to Crofton on Tuesday.

 

 

O’Neill 12 10 11 8 41

Cedar Catholic 17 11 14 15 57

 

Team Stats O CC

FG 15-52 22-53

3PT 9-29 9-22

FT 2-4 4-7

REB 26 41

TO 14 14

 

SCORING

Cedar Catholic - Myles Thoene, 21; Tate Thoene, 12; Matthew Becker, 9; Brady Steffen, 6; Cole Becker, 5; Josh Pinkelman, 2; Charlie Schroeder, 2. O’Neill - Dennis Herrera, 17; Francisco Perez, 11; Brady Sidak, 6; Kolby Dean, 5; Mason Walsh, 2.

REBOUNDS

Cedar Catholic - Matthew Becker, 8; Myles Thoene, 7; Brady Steffen, 7; Charlie Schroeder, 6; Tate Thoene, 5; Josh Pinkelman, 3; Cole Becker, 3; Mason Schaefer, 1; Chase Lammers, 1. O’Neill - Kolby Bean, 7; Francisco Perez, 6; Tye Hilker, 4; Dennis Herrera, 4; Peyton Matthews, 2; Brady Side, 2.

ASSISTS

Cedar Catholic - Brady Steffen, 4; Matthew Becker, 2; Charlie Schroeder, 1; Josh Pinkelman, 1. O’Neill - Brady Sidak, 4; Francisco Perez, 3; Tye Hilker, 2.

STEALS

Cedar Catholic - Brady Steffe, 3; Myles Thoene, 2; Matthew Becker, 1; Charlie Schroeder, 1; Josh Pinkelman, 1. O’Neill - Dennis Herrera, 5; Brady Sidak, 2; Tye Hilker, 2; Francisco Perez, 1.

BLOCKS

Cedar Catholic - Charlie Schroeder, 3; Matthew Beker, 1; Brady Steffen, 1. O’Neill - None.

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